


pink

by SoloChaos



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-11
Updated: 2014-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-17 00:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2291060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoloChaos/pseuds/SoloChaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh Dun is a Troublemaker. Josh Dun is a Wrong-Doer. Josh Dun is a Detention-Getter. </p><p>Josh Dun is possibly at the top of Tyler's "Hottest Guys in Our School" lists that Jenna makes him write.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> MY ONE HUNDREDTH TWENTY ONE PILOTS FIC *THROWS CONFETTI EVERYWHERE*

"This is the stupidest thing ever," Tyler mutters to himself. "I'm not even a senior. Why would I participate in senior prank day?"

"Not being a senior would be a good alibi," someone says from behind him. Tyler jumps in surprise. "Jumpy, are we?"

"I just didn't know you were there," Tyler says, casting a glare to the person behind him. 

The person happens to be Joshua Dun. Crap. 

Josh Dun is a Troublemaker. Josh Dun is a Wrong-Doer. Josh Dun is a Detention-Getter.

Josh Dun is possibly at the top of Tyler's "Hottest Guys in Our School" lists that Jenna makes him write. 

Tyler feels his face contort into some weird expression, probably making him look mentally disabled. And possibly insane. 

"Constipated's a good look on you," Josh says. 

Or constipated. 

"Tyler Joseph?" 

Tyler stands when the vice principal calls his name. Tyler isn't sure why they even have a principal, considering it's the vice principal that does everything. Come to think of it, Tyler's not entirely sure that they  _have_  a principal. He's pretty sure that no one has ever seen the supposed principal of their school. Maybe their school district can't afford to pay for a principal and invented a principal in order to maintain the appearance of a normal school. 

Anyways. 

Tyler sits down on the chair in front of the vice principal. 

"Mr. Joseph," the vice principal drawls. "What do you know about paint?"

"Uh, not too much, sir," Tyler says, carefully avoiding looking at the paint stains on his jeans. "I take choir, you see, not drawing and pai-"

"Oh, cut the crap, Joseph," the vice principal snaps. "I know you were responsible for my car's sudden color change. You were caught red-" he pauses, "pink handed."

"Sir, I swear, it was a misunderstanding," Tyler tries to say, but the vice principal holds up a hand, cutting him off. 

"Not only do we have physical evidence," he says, "but we have a witness swearing that it was you who vandalized my car." 

"What? Who?" Tyler asks, suddenly distracted. He's pretty certain he hasn't done anything to offend anyone enough that they'd frame him like that. 

"Never mind who," the vice principal snaps. "A reliable source, I'll tell you that much."

Tyler mentally crosses off about three-fourths of the candidates on the "Possible Haters of Tyler Joseph" list he composed thirty seconds ago at the "reliable."

"Detention, Mr. Joseph," the vice principal says, writing out a pass. "For two weeks."

"But don't you have to hear my side of the story?" Tyler protests. 

"I don't  _have_  to do anything," the vice principal points out. 

"That's very true," Tyler says. 

And that was that.

 

"How  _did_  you end up covered in paint anyways?" Jenna asks during lunch.

"I was handed a book covered in paint," Tyler says. "And it was slippery, so I dropped it." 

"Why did you take a book covered in paint?" Jenna asks. 

"It was before first period!" Tyler says defensively. "I was pretty much asleep."

Jenna holds her hands up in a surrendering position. "Yeah, but how did you get paint all over your jeans?"

"Oh. Um," Tyler says. "I may have slipped."

"Slipped?"

"Or maybe tripped."

"Over what? The book?" 

"Uh. No," Tyler says. "I may or may not have tripped over nothing."

Jenna covers her mouth the way she does when she's trying to laugh. 

"Oh, shut up," Tyler tells her halfheartedly. 

Once Jenna composes herself, she asks, "Who handed you the book, anyways?"

Tyler shrugs. "I don't know. I was half-asleep and they were wearing a hood." 

Jenna nods slowly as she takes a bite out of her apple. 

"And the weirdest thing is," Tyler says, "is that apparently some 'reliable witness' testified that it was  _me_  who painted the vice principal's car." He smacks his hand on the table before wincing a little, because  _ow._  "I mean, it's not like they could've mistook me for anyone else. I don't think I look like anyone else here."

"I don't know," Jenna says thoughtfully. "I think you could pull off a Caucasian, miniature Gabe Saporta." 

Tyler stares at her. "You're not helping." 

"Sorry, sorry," Jenna says, looking a little miffed. "What  _should_  I be doing then?"

"Figuring out who framed me, obviously!" Tyler tells her indignantly. 

"All right," she says, rolling her eyes a little. "Uh, Spencer?"

"What?" Tyler splutters. "Why Spencer?"

"Well, maybe he finally figured out how long you were crushing on his boyfriend-"

"Shhh!" Tyler hisses, casting a quick glance at the table behind them where Spencer has his arm thrown over Brendon's shoulder. 

Jenna shrugs. "Just a theory," she says. "Hmm. Pete?" 

"What have I done to Pete?" Tyler demands. 

"You sat on his boyfriend the other day."

"His cardigan was the  _exact_  color of the couch, I'm sorry!" Tyler yelps loudly. A few people turn to stare at him, and Jenna gives them all her death glare until they look away. 

"Thanks," Tyler tells her. 

"Yup," she replies. 

They eat in silence for a moment. 

"Gerard?" Jenna offers. 

_"Gerard?"_  Tyler repeats. "Seriously?"

"You insulted Mikey the other day," Jenna points out.

"Saying that I like dragons more than unicorns is not insulting." 

"You made the poor kid cry."

"It's a tough world out there, Jenna! He's gonna hear people trash-talk unicorns all the time! I was  _preparing_  him!"

Jenna rolls her eyes. "Sure."

Tyler takes a rather melodramatic bite out of his sandwich. 

"What if it was me?" Jenna says. 

"Why the heck would you frame me?" Tyler asks. 

She smirks wickedly. "So you and Josh Dun would have to interact at detention today."

"How did you know he'd have detention?" Tyler asks. 

Jenna stares at him. "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"He got into a fight," she says, whispering. 

"Who'd he fight with?" Tyler whispers back. 

"Some senior," Jenna murmurs. "He beat the crap out of the guy." 

"Why?" Tyler mutters. 

"No one knows," she replies. "Why are we whispering?" 

"I don't know," Tyler says. "You started it." 

 

The day progresses pretty much as always, ignoring the anticipation of detention with Josh Dun looming over Tyler.

Jenna tries to cheer him up in history class by throwing pens at his head, but it doesn't work very well. 

"Stop it," he tells her after the seventh one hits his nose. Jenna sticks her tongue out at him. 

"Cheer up," she instructs. 

He grumbles wordlessly, rubbing his nose. "You're being mean."

"You're being an idiot," she tells him. "You get a whole hour with Josh!"

"What about that should make me happy?" he hisses back. 

Jenna stares at him. "You get a whole hour with Josh," she repeats. 

"I am not looking forward to spending an hour with Josh," he tells her. "We have only talked once, which was this morning, and he told me I looked constipated." 

Jenna snorts into her history book.

"Boys are just stupid," she tells him. "He was probably trying to compliment you." 

"What, by telling me I looked like I have trouble defecating?" 

Jenna snickers a little. "It probably didn't come out the way he wanted it to."

"Oh." Tyler can relate to that.

 

Tyler's already sitting in the room where detentions are held when Josh gets there. 

"Late again, Mr. Dun," the teacher overseeing the detention says. She sounds like she's ceased to care. 

"Ah, you know me," Josh says, and Tyler gets the feeling that she does.  

Josh plops down on a desk right next to Tyler. Right next to Tyler. Even though he has a whole room of other empty chairs. He notices that Tyler's staring at him and flashes him a grin. Tyler blushes and looks away. 

"I like your nails," Josh says, and Tyler reflexively looks down to see his bright blue nails. 

"Thanks," he mumbles. It's really not fun being mocked. 

They sit in silence for a few moments. Tyler picks at his friendship bracelet that Jenna made for him when they were seven. It still amazes him that it still fits. 

"So, what are you in for?" Josh asks Tyler conversationally. 

"Uh," Tyler says. "The vice principal thinks I painted his car."

Josh's face goes a little funny for a second, before smoothing out. He looks down at Tyler's jeans. "Pink?"

Tyler nods.

"And did you?" Josh asks. 

"Did I what?"

"Paint his car pink." 

"No!" Tyler yelps. Josh raises an eyebrow. "Really!"

"You're not even gonna try to pretend you did?" Josh says. 

"Why would I?" Tyler asks. 

"That sounds like a pretty good prank," Josh says. "I might own up to it if I were in your position." 

Tyler rests his head in his arms. "Well, what are  _you_  here for?" 

"What, you didn't hear?"

"I did. I just want to hear it from you." 

"Understandable," Josh says. "There was a senior being a jerk, so I punched him in the face."

"And you weren't suspended?" Tyler asks. 

"It was self-defense," Josh says. "He took the first swing." 

"Oh," Tyler says, unable to think of anything else to say. 

Josh laughs.

There's a lull before Josh says, "You got a boyfriend?"

Tyler chokes on air.  _"What?"_

Josh grins. "Boyfriend. Got one?"

"What, uh," Tyler pauses to clear his throat, "what made you think I'm gay?"

Josh raises an eyebrow. "Really?" he says. 

Tyler considers this. "Good point," he says. "Uh, no. I don't." 

There's a moment of silence. 

"Do you, um, have a boyfriend?" Tyler asks hesitantly. 

Josh gives him an indecipherable look. "No."

"Oh," Tyler says, trying not to sound too disappointed.  

Josh laughs. "All right, then," he says.  "So you're Tyler, right?" 

"Yeah," Tyler says. "And you're Josh."

"I know," Josh says. 

"...right," Tyler says, resting his head on his desk. 

Josh snorts, giving Tyler's back a pat. It's closer to a whack, actually, but Tyler appreciates it even though it hurts a bit. 

 

It turns out that Josh is actually a nice person.

He laughs at Tyler's stupid puns and shares his bag of chips and compliments Tyler's shoes. He even gives Tyler his phone number.

Tyler's feeling kind of giddy as they leave the school, and it comes crashing down when he notices a very beautiful girl sitting on the bench outside the school, obviously waiting for someone. And judging by the way Josh's face lights up, she was waiting for him.

"Joshua William!" she calls, standing up. 

"Deborah Ann!" he shouts back, running over to her and spinning her around. He gives her a kiss on her cheek.  

"Who's this?" the girl- Deborah Ann- asks, pointing to Tyler, who steps back automatically.

"Hmm? Oh, this is Tyler," Josh says, turning back. "Tyler, this is Debby."

"It's nice to meet you," she says, smiling warmly.

"You too," Tyler says awkwardly. "Hey, um, I gotta run." 

"Oh, sure, okay," Josh says distractedly. "I'll see you later, then."

"Okay," Tyler mumbles as he walks off. 

 

"Why do you even bother with this?" Jenna asks him as he clambers through her window. "My mom knows you're not gonna get me pregnant."

"It makes me look cooler," Tyler tells her as he accidentally bangs his head on the window. 

Jenna snorts, moving the table beneath the windowsill out of the way. 

"What's going on?" she asks once he's through, closing the window. 

"I have horrible news," Tyler tells her, flopping onto her bed. 

"What's wrong?" Jenna asks. 

Tyler groans, burrowing his face in her pillow. "Josh is straight."

"What?"

"He has a girlfriend," Tyler says. 

"What?" Jenna repeats, sounding bewildered. "But I thought..." 

"From a different school," Tyler continues. "And she's  _gorgeous."_  

"Oh, Tyler," Jenna says sympathetically, sitting down next to him. 

"We were really getting along," Tyler says into Jenna's pillow. "And I made him laugh and he gave me his phone number and he was really nice." 

Jenna, who seems to have sensed Tyler's story's about to take a dark turn, rubs his back. 

"And then we walked out and there was a girl sitting on the bench and Josh ran to her and she shouted 'Joshua William!' and he shouted 'Deborah Ann!' and he picked her up and spun her around and kissed her cheek," Tyler says miserably. 

"Oh, honey," Jenna says, leaning down to give him a hug. "I'm so sorry."  

"They looked really happy, Jenna," Tyler mumbles. 

She pats his back sympathetically. "Tell you what," she says. "Tomorrow we'll go out for waffles, okay? My treat." 

"Okay," Tyler says, rolling onto his back. "Thank you."

"No problem," Jenna says as she pulls the covers over them.  

 

"If you were any other boy," Tyler wakes up to hear, "you wouldn't be alive to hear me say this."

"Hi, Mrs. Black," Tyler says, rubbing his eyes. Jenna mumbles sleepily, burrowing further into his side. 

"Rough night?" Mrs. Black asks, looking concerned. Tyler really only sleeps over when one of them's hurting, and she knows this. 

Tyler smiles weakly at her. "Not such a great one, no." 

Mrs. Black pats his foot sympathetically. "If you ever need to talk to an adult, I'm always free, okay?" 

"Okay," Tyler tells her. She gives his foot one last pat before leaving. 

Tyler gives Jenna a poke. She grumbles, batting fruitlessly at his hand. 

"Wake up," he says, poking her again. Jenna yelps, eyes finally opening. 

"Jerk," she mutters when she sees him. 

"Waffles," he replies. 

Jenna groans, moving to bury her head back into her pillow, but Tyler yanks it out of the way. 

"I distinctly remember you promising me waffles," he tells her, and Jenna sighs. 

"But I'm so comfy!" she whines, so Tyler pushes her off the bed. 

"Are you still comfy?" he asks. 

There's a moment of silence, and then a "I hate you."

"Nah," Tyler says assuredly. "You love me. That's why we're going to get waffles."

 

They get to the Waffle House late enough that it's completely crowded. 

"I'm so tired," Jenna says once they've placed their orders, looking at Tyler accusingly. 

"It was like, ten-thirty," Tyler says defensively.  

"Eight-thirty, you jerk," Jenna says.

"It was to give you time to shower."

"No. You are just an absolute sadist." 

_"I'm_  sadistic? What about the time-"

"I  _swear,_  that was an accident!"

"It was so not-"

"Hi," someone says. They look up to see Josh Dun and his girlfriend standing there, hand in hand. 

"Is it okay if we join you?" Josh asks. "The line was really long, so..." 

"Yeah, it's fine," Jenna says before Tyler can say anything. 

Debby grins at them, sliding into the booth to sit next to Tyler. She looks amazing, and Tyler wants to cry a little. 

"What's your name?" she asks Jenna. 

"I'm Jenna," she says. "That's Tyler, if you didn't know."

"Oh, I know," Debby says a little vaguely. She then smiles brightly. "I'm Debby."

Their frazzled looking waitress comes back with Tyler and Jenna's drinks and takes Josh and Debby's orders. 

"What are you two up to today?" Debby asks once the waitress has left. 

"Not much," Jenna says. "We were just gonna do some shopping, probably."

"Ooh, where?" Debby asks, leaning in. "I'm not from around here, so I don't know any good places."

"Well, our friend works at the Forever 21 at the mall, so we get discounts," Jenna says. Tyler watches as her face starts to become more animated as she and Debby talk, and he wants to cry a little more. 

Instead, he takes a gulp from his coffee, burning his tongue. 

"Oh man, I haven't been to one of those in so long," Debby says. 

"Do you want to join us?" Jenna offers. "We'll probably hit some other stores as well."

"Oh, could I?" Debby asks eagerly. "I am in such need of summer clothes, you have no idea."

"Yeah, sure!" Jenna says brightly. "Do you want to leave after eating?"

"Sure," Debby says.

"Does Josh want to come, or-" Jenna begins, but Josh snorts, shaking his head. 

"No, thanks," he says. "I have to work." 

"It's not exactly his favorite thing, either," Debby says, leaning across the table to poke Josh's nose. He bares his teeth, pretending to try to bite her finger, and Debby laughs. 

Tyler would like to drown in his cup of lava masquerading as coffee right now, pretty please. 

 

Jenna and Debby chat through the whole drive to the mall, about "girl" things that Tyler would usually be all over, but now they just seem stupid to him. 

He hums mindlessly to himself, thumbs tapping out a rhythm on the steering wheel. He actually misses their exit, but Debby and Jenna are so preoccupied that they don't even notice. 

"I like your nails," Debby says as they walk from the parking lot to the mall, and Tyler turns to see her looking at Jenna's fingers. 

"Oh, thank you," Jenna says, looking down at her green fingernails. "Tyler did them."

"Really?" Debby asks, examining them closer. "They look professional. Tyler, I think I'm gonna have to ask you to do mine as well."

"They're great, aren't they?" Jenna says. "I feel so bad that I can't do his nearly as well."  

Debby looks at Tyler's nails, finding the bright blue color on them. Tyler balls his hands reflexively, hiding the color. 

"Are you the reason Josh asked me to paint his nails purple?" Debby asks, sounding amused. 

"He did?" Tyler asks incredulously. Debby nods. 

"I told him that if he'd steal some nail polish from his sister, I'd paint them tonight," she says. 

"Huh," Tyler says, making a mental note to reevaluate a few things later. 

"Oh, hey, there's a sale!" Jenna says as they walk into Forever 21. "Tyler, you can finally get that flower robe you've been eying."

Tyler blushes when Debby looks at him.

"I like flowers," he mumbles. 

"I can tell," Debby says, looking at his shoes. "They're cute," she says, pointing. She seems genuine, so Tyler hesitantly offers a smile. Her face lights up, and she beams back. Tyler feels kind of bad for disliking her now, because she's obviously one of the sweetest people to ever roam the earth. 

Dammit.

Tyler wanders off in the direction of where he last saw the flower robe. Pete, who works there, appears.

"What's got you down, Ty?" he asks, leaning against a rack of shirts.

"Nothing," Tyler says shortly.

"Bullshit," Pete says cheerfully. "You look like you just found out your crush is straight and you want to hate his girlfriend but she's too lovely to even mildly dislike." 

Tyler pauses. "Wait. How...?"

"I have experience," Pete explains. "Is the lovely lady who walked in with you and Jenna Josh's girlfriend?"

Tyler splutters. "How... how... how?" 

"You look at Josh like you want him to bone you, hard and fast," Pete says as a way of explaining, and Tyler chokes. 

"Never say 'bone' in that context ever again. As long as you live." 

"Boooooone," Pete drawls. "You want to do the nasty with him. You want to frickle frackle. Do the deed. The dance with no pants. The hanky panky. Slam the ham. Shuck the oyster. Butter the biscuit. Hit a home run. Shake the trailer. Bump uglies. Plug the-"

"Okay!" Tyler interrupts loudly, covering his ears in case Pete decides to continue. He doesn't. 

"My point is, Ty-bear," Pete begins, slinging an arm over Tyler's shoulder.

"Look at you, big man with an actual point," Tyler mumbles. 

"Don't be rude," Pete says cheerfully. "My point is, if you wanna hit that, you gotta be an asshole. Get the lady friend out of the picture."

Tyler considers this.

"I'm never going to get laid, am I," he realizes.

"Nope," Pete says, popping the P.

 

"Your polish is chipping," Jenna says with a frown, examining his nails.

"It's part of my look," Tyler says. 

"What, a hot mess?" 

Tyler scowls. "At least I'm hot."

Jenna rolls her eyes. "Come on, I'm repainting them. What color?"

"Hmm," Tyler says. "Black, to match my soul."

Jenna raises an eyebrow. "...right." 

"What am I going to do, Jen?" Tyler sighs as she begins to remove the chipping blue polish on his nails. "I'm never going to date Josh. I'm never going to date anyone. I'm going to live and die a virgin."

Jenna snorts. "It's not like you were going to have sex with Josh anyways."

"What makes you say that?" Tyler asks, feeling mildly affronted. 

"Remember you told me that you were never going to have 'that gross sex' until you're married?" Jenna says. 

"I was like, twelve."

"Fifteen," Jenna corrects. "And you went on to say that you'll probably be really bad at sex and you want to wait until your married so your husband can't just break up with you because of it."

Tyler closes his eyes. "Stop talking. Please."

"Just saying," Jenna says. Tyler hears her unscrew a bottle of nail polish, and the smell of nail polish fills the room.

"Okay, so I probably won't have sex with him," Tyler admits. "But I'm going to die first kiss-less, at least. 

"What was it that we had, then?" Jenna asks, sounding offended. 

"We had a peck. When we were like, eight."

"Ten." 

"Okay, whatever. It still doesn't count. I didn't know I was gay then."

"I knew. That was why I hit you."

"I thought you hit me because I bit your tongue."

"That too." 

Tyler sighs, opening his eyes to find Jenna nearly finished with painting his nails bright pink. 

"Hey! What happened to black?"

"You said 'Like your soul.' I thought pink would better describe it."

"That is not like my soul." 

"You're right. It's missing rainbow glitter."

"I hate you. So much."

"No, you don’t."


	2. Chapter 2

Josh has gotten a nose ring. Tyler firmly believes that facial piercings do not look good on anyone. 

Except for Josh Dun, apparently. 

"I want to lick your nose," Tyler says before he can stop himself. 

Josh blinks. "Okay." 

"I didn't mean to say that."

"I figured," Josh says with a smirk. 

Tyler groans, burying his head in his arms, which are currently resting on his desk. 

It's their fourth day of detention together, and Tyler has gotten no less awkward around him. He's gotten more awkward, if anything.

"You haven't texted me," Josh comments.  

"...yeah," Tyler says. "Sorry." 

"It's cool," Josh says. "Just hit me up when you'd like."

"Okay," Tyler says, drumming his fingers against the desk. "Um. How's Debby?"

Josh blinks. "She's fine, I guess. Why?"

Tyler shrugs. "Just curious."

Josh nods. 

There's a moment of silence before Josh says, "So my birthday's next week." 

"Happy birthday," Tyler says automatically. 

"...thanks," Josh says. "Do you want to come hang out then?"

Tyler blinks. 

"It's just going to be a few people," Josh continues. "At my house next Saturday."

"...oh," Tyler says. 

"You can bring Jenna, if you'd like," Josh says. 

"Okay," Tyler says. 

"So, what do you say?" Josh asks, and he looks... anxious? Is Josh Dun anxious for Tyler's response? 

"...okay," Tyler says, and Josh beams.

 

"That's the biggest few I've ever seen," Jenna comments, looking at the cars as they walk up to Josh's front door.

"Yeah," Tyler says, getting kind of nervous as he rings the doorbell. 

A girl Tyler vaguely recognizes from around school opens the door. 

"Who are you?" she asks, narrowing her eyes. 

"Um," Tyler says. 

"Tyler!" 

Josh appears behind the girl, shirtless with a party hat perched on his head. 

Josh had abs. What kind of high schooler has abs? 

"You're bad at being a high schooler," Tyler blurts. 

Josh, Jenna, and the girl stare at him. 

"What?" Josh asks, shifting, and the lights hit his abs in such a way that they gleam sort of... distractingly. 

"Tyler," Jenna hisses, jabbing him in the side. Tyler jolts, realizing that he's been staring at Josh for a bit too long. 

"...sorry," he says, looking away. 

The girl smirks at him before walking away, patting Josh on the back. 

"Come in, come in," Josh says, stepping back. "Kitchen's that way, game room's that way, backyard's there. We have a trampoline."

"Awesome," Jenna says, ushering Tyler in. 

Either they're late, or everyone got there early, because the party seems to be in full swing. Tyler feels kind of intimidated. 

"Hey, Jen!" Debby says happily, appearing by Josh's side. "It's great to see you. Can I show you something this way?"

"Yeah, sure," Jenna says brightly, leaving Tyler's side without a second thought. 

"...oh," Tyler says. 

Josh looks at him sympathetically. "Wanna go sit on the trampoline with me?"

"Sure," Tyler says quickly. 

Josh shoos all of the people sitting on the trampoline off in what's probably meant to be a surreptitious way. Tyler isn't sure why Josh is being so kind to him, but he's just going to ride it until it ends. 

"You have a lot of friends," Tyler comments. 

"I don't really know most of these people," Josh admits. "They're from Debby's school."

"Oh," Tyler says. "Why are they here, then?"

Josh shrugs. "I told her she could invite however many people she wanted to. She's just really popular, so." He gestures around. "Plenty of people."

"Oh," Tyler says uselessly. "I didn't get you a present."

Josh stares at him for a moment before laughing. 

"That's fine, dude," he says, patting Tyler's arm. "That's fine."

Tyler tries not to blush at Josh's touch. 

"So," Josh says, sprawling back. "Tell me about yourself, Tyler Joseph." 

"Uh. Well, um. I'm Tyler."

"Yes," Josh says. 

Tyler sighs, mentally berating himself. _You idiot._

"I, um, play basketball," Tyler tries. "And I sing."

"Cool," Josh says. "I play drums in band." 

_I know,_  Tyler thinks, but doesn't say anything. He just nods. 

They exchange random things about themselves until they're both lying on their backs on the trampoline. Tyler has to keep reminding himself that Josh has a girlfriend, because he looks very, very kissable.

Josh stops talking after a while, and Tyler looks in amazement to see that Josh has fallen asleep. 

Shrugging, Tyler wriggles a little to get comfortable, and drifts off to sleep too. 

 

"Hey, you idiot," someone is saying as they poke him awake. 

"What, what?" Tyler mutters, batting at the hand that's poking him. 

"Wake up. It's past our curfew," Jenna hisses. 

Tyler sits up quickly, and is startled when he bounces. 

Right. Trampoline.

"Oi, dummkopf." 

Tyler looks over to see Debby cheerfully poking Josh's cheek. 

"You're drooling on your precious trampoline," she says. 

Josh's eyes flutter. "Wha-?"

"It's past midnight," Debby tells him. 

"Shoot!" Tyler yelps, tumbling off the trampoline. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" he asks Jenna. 

"I'm not your keeper," Jenna tells him. 

"When I get grounded, it'll be your fault," Tyler grumbles. 

 

"Were you grounded?" is what Tyler first hears when he walks into the classroom where detention is held. 

"Yeah, I- whoa." Tyler steps back involuntarily when he catches sight of Josh.

"Do you like it?" Josh asks, fluffing up his bright pink hair with his fingers.

"Uh," Tyler says. "Not really."

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Josh asks, looking a little anxious. 

"It's a distraction."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't like distractions. They're distracting."

Josh stares at him. "...all right."

"All right," Tyler repeats. 

"So," Josh says, tapping his fingers against the desk. Tyler catches a glimpse of purple polish. "It's our last day of detention together. We should celebrate."

"We should?" Tyler says. 

Josh shrugs. "Sure. Do you like pizza?" 

 

"It wasn't a date!" Tyler insists. 

"Josh and Tyler, sitting in a tree," Jenna begins. "K-I-S-S-I-" 

"No!" Tyler exclaims. "No, it wasn't a date, and we didn't kiss."

"All right, all right," Jenna says, holding a hand up. "I'll stop."

Tyler sighs, sitting down on the bed next to her. 

"He's dating Debby," he says quietly. "I'm not gonna be what breaks them up. I don't wanna be that asshole."

"Okay," Jenna says. "I'm sorry, Ty. I'll stop."

"Thanks," Tyler says, giving her a hug.  

"D'you wanna watch a movie?" Jenna asks once they pull apart. 

"Sure," Tyler says with a small smile. "The Notebook?"

"You always cry!"

"No, that's you."

"Ha ha, Tyler Robert. You're a real comedian." 

 

"The last thing I remember was our beautiful bodies grindin' up in that club," Tyler sings to himself absentmindedly as he clears out his locker and dumps everything into his backpack. "Drunk in love."

"We be all night," someone standing right behind him sings. Tyler jumps, dropping his backpack. "Lo- oh, did I scare you?" 

"A little bit, yeah," Tyler tells Josh, hand over his heart. "Um. Could I help you?"

"Oh, sorry," Josh apologizes. "Debby just wants to know if you'll paint her nails."

"Oh, um, sure," Tyler says before he can stop to think about it. "Does she want to come to my house, or..."

"She mentioned maybe your house, if that's all right," Josh says. 

"Okay," Tyler says. "I'll text you my address, and you could forward it to her?"

"Awesome," Josh says, clapping Tyler on the back. Tyler tries not to flinch because he knows it wasn't supposed to hurt, but  _ow._

 

"Remind me again: why did you agree to paint the nails of your crush's girlfriend?"

Tyler and Jenna are sprawled out on his bed, waiting for Debby to arrive.  

Tyler sighs. "It was a... lapse of judgement." 

"It was because Josh asked you."

"...yeah."

Jenna snorts. "You're whipped, and you're not even dating." 

"Shut up," Tyler begins to say when they hear the doorbell ring. 

"Oh my gosh," Debby says once she's situated in Tyler's room. "That. That is a lot of nail polish."

"I got like, a set of fifty or something for my birthday," Tyler explains. "Take your time."

Debby eventually picks out a dark pink color, almost red. It's barely used, since it's not really Tyler or Jenna's color, but it definitely looks like it'll be Debby's. 

Tyler spreads out the towel he always uses while nail painting on his bed and takes Debby's hand. 

"How's Josh?" he finds himself asking. 

"Hmm? Oh, he's fine," she says. "Happy that school's finally over."

Tyler nods, and sees Jenna giving him an odd look out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, Jen, did you see that new episode of Orange is the New Black?" Debby asks, and the two girls immediately launch into an energetic discussion about Piper Chapman. 

Tyler hums absentmindedly to himself, concentrating on Debby's nails. It really is a pretty color. He kind of wishes he could wear it himself. 

His thoughts turn to Josh fairly quickly. Purple polish looked pretty good on Josh. Tyler wonders if he'll ever get to paint Josh's nails. He then realizes that he probably shouldn't. He has to concentrate on not getting a boner every time Josh touches him for longer than a millisecond. 

Ah, the perks of being a teenager. 

Jenna and Debby leave around nine, and Tyler finds Zack walking up to him as he locks the front door. 

"How did you manage to get  _two_  girls into your bedroom?" Zack asks him, looking amazed.

Tyler gives him a look.

"Step one," he says. "Be gay."

 

Tyler's gotten kind of bored. Sitting in Jenna's room and watching movies got kind of old recently. 

"We could... go to a movie," Jenna suggests. 

Tyler snorts from where he's hanging upside down from the edge of her bed. "Because that's so different from what we've been been doing all day. All week."

"Point," Jenna says. "Uh. We could go to the record store." 

"We were there last week, and they said they weren't getting anything new in until next week," Tyler says dismissively. 

"Right,"Jenna says. "Swimming pool?"

"Too crowded," Tyler tells her. 

Eventually they decide to drive to town and walk around. It's kind of hot, so they mainly spend their time ducking into stores every couple of minutes just to cool off. 

They're walking past the skate park when Jenna stops them.  

"Wait. Isn't that Josh?" she asks. 

Tyler looks up probably a little too eagerly, but thankfully Jenna doesn't comment. 

"And Debby," she says. "I didn't know she could skate."

Tyler follows Jenna to the fence as Josh and Debby do possibly life-endangering tricks. Tyler pretends he doesn't break into a nervous sweat when he notices that Josh barely sticks his landing. 

"Hey!" Debby shouts, kicking up her skateboard and grabbing it before walking over to them. "What's up, guys?" 

"Not much," Jenna says. "I didn't know you could skate."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, my boy's been teaching me," Debby says, gesturing over to Josh with her head. 

Josh is taking off his helmet, revealing a shock of bright pink hair matted slightly by sweat. He'd shaved the sides, Tyler notes, which makes him look infinitely more punk rock. 

Punk rock is a good look on Josh.

Josh is in the process of taking off his shirt, body glimmering with sweat, when Jenna kicks Tyler in the shin to get him to look away. 

"Ow!" Tyler yelps loudly, and Josh looks up as he's wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt. 

"Tyler!" Josh says happily, strolling over to them while tossing his shirt to the side. There- there are those abs. Gleaming in the sunlight.

Jenna kicks him again, albeit less hard this time. Tyler looks up to sees Debby mouthing something to Josh. 

"Hey, Josh," he says, his voice cracking a little. Thankfully, no one comments on it. "What's up?" he manages to get out.  

"Got a new board and shaved my head," Josh says. "You?"

"...uh," Tyler says. 

"We were bored, and decided to walk around town," Jenna explains for him. Tyler knew there was a reason as to why he keeps her around.

"Cool," Josh says with a nod. 

"We were just about to go get lunch. Do you guys want to join us?" Debby offers. 

"Sure," Jenna accepts readily. 

"Put your shirt on, Joshie," Debby says, patting Josh's back before taking her helmet off.

Both Josh and Tyler grumble about that. 

 

They end up in a nearby pizza place. The pizza isn't particularly good, but it's cheap, and hey, it's pizza. 

Tyler is coming back from the bathroom when he sees Josh walking towards him. 

"Hey," Josh says. 

"Hi," Tyler says, confused. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah, actually," Josh says, walking Tyler backwards until he's pressed up against the wall in the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asks. 

"Can I kiss you?" Josh says softly. "Please?"

Tyler's speechless. "I..."

He can scarcely believe it, believe that Josh is leaning in to  _kiss_  him. But-

But that's not right. Josh has a girlfriend. 

"No," Tyler says, holding a hand up to Josh's chest, keeping him from getting any closer. 

Josh frowns. "No?" He looks at Tyler, obviously bewildered. "You- you're kidding, right?" 

"No," Tyler says, shaking his head. "No, I'm not kidding."

"Tyler..."

"I'm not kidding, Josh. Don't kiss me." 

"But... but why?" 

Tyler stares at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me?" 

"No," Josh says. "Tyler, why-"

"You know the answer," Tyler snaps. "Now let me out, Josh."

"No, wait," Josh says. 

"Let me out," Tyler says.  

"Tyler, why-"

"Let me out, or I'm going to scream," Tyler says as evenly as he can, pushing at Josh's shoulders. Unfortunately, Josh is a brick wall or something, and doesn't budge. 

"No, please-" Josh tries. 

"Tyler?"

They both look to see Jenna standing there, looking worried. Josh steps back quickly, and Tyler bolts for Jenna's side. 

"I'm sorry, Tyler," Josh says softly as Tyler walks away as quickly as he can, a confused Jenna in tow. "I'm sorry!"

 

"What happened there?"

Tyler ignores Jenna's questions until they make it back to Tyler's car. 

"He tried to kiss me," he whispers as he starts the car. 

"Okay," Jenna says slowly. 

"And I didn't want him to kiss me," Tyler continues. 

"Did he try to kiss you anyways?" Jenna asks. When Tyler doesn't respond immediately, she growls, "Oh my gosh, I swear, I'm gonna kill-"

"No, no, no," Tyler says quickly. "No, he didn't... force himself on me or whatever. He just like... wouldn't move so I could get away from him."

Jenna sighs. "Tyler..."

"I don't want to talk about it, Jen," Tyler says quietly. "Please."

"Okay," Jenna says quietly. 

 

Tyler's phone has been buzzing all day, and he finally picks it up when it rings. 

"I'm not talking to you, Josh," he sighs into the receiver. 

"Then who are you talking to?" Josh asks. 

Tyler nearly laughs. Instead, he says, "What do you want?"

"I just want to apologize," Josh says. 

"For what?"

"For kissing you."

Tyler sighs. "I don't think it's me you should be apologizing to."

There's a pause. "Then who should I be apologizing to?"

"Debby."

"...why should I apologize to Debby?"

Tyler blinks. "You're an asshole," he says, and hangs up before Josh can reply.

 

Somehow Debby ends up in his room, practically shaking in all her righteous rage. 

"You asshole," she tells him evenly. 

"What?" Tyler says. 

"You asshole," she repeats. "He tried to kiss you."

"I know," Tyler says. "I stopped him." 

Debby groans. "I know!" she practically shouts. "And why would you do that?!" 

Tyler blinks. "...what?"

"You've been leading him on," Debby accuses, stalking over. "I  _know_  you like him, Tyler, and he knows it too. Or at least we thought you did." 

"Wha- what?" Tyler says, gaping. 

"That was one hell of a shitty thing to do," Debby tells him. "To lead him on only to shove him away. He thought you liked him, Tyler, and he liked you too, but why would you do that? Why would you tell him to leave the way you did?" 

Tyler's frozen, staring at her. "...what?" 

"Don't be an idiot," Debby says sternly. "I've seen the way you stare at him. He didn't see it until I pointed it out, but he sees it now." 

"Wait, wait," Tyler says, holding his hand up. "I don't know what kind of poly thing you've got going on but-"

"'Poly thing?'" Debby repeats. 

"Like polygamy."

"I'm aware," Debby says rather dryly. "But I don't know how that applies to this situation."

"Well, you and Josh are dating. And if you were to involve me-"

"Wait, wait," Debby says, holding up a hand. "Josh and I are not dating." 

"...what?"

"Who told you that we're dating?"

"W-well," Tyler stutters. "I- I just assumed, I guess. I- I mean, you guys would hold hands. And  _kiss."_

"I've known him since we were like, three or something, Tyler," Debby says. "We're best friends, practically siblings. They're platonic kisses, Tyler. Platonic hand holding. And he's _gay."_

"...oh."

"Yeah."

Tyler sits there for a few moments, just readjusting his knowledge of the world.

"So why didn't you kiss him?" Debby finally asks. "You obviously like him. We've established that."

Tyler sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I like you," he begins. "And Jenna likes you too. So when I thought you and Josh were dating, I- I didn't want to hurt you." 

Debby stares at him for a moment before beaming. 

"Oh, my gosh," Debby says, leaning in and wrapping Tyler into a hug. "You are the sweetest thing ever. Never change."

"Okay," Tyler says, bewildered.

"Josh is such a socially inept idiot," she mumbles as she pulls back. "What kind of dummkopf paints a car and frames his crush?"

"Wait."

Debby freezes. "Did I say that out loud?" she asks with a wince. 

"Yes," Tyler says. "And say it again."

 

"...wow," Jenna says once he's done explaining. 

"I have a crush on an idiot," Tyler says decidedly. "Or a doom-cop or whatever Debby calls him." 

"Dummkopf," Jenna corrects. "German for 'idiot.'"

"Ah," Tyler says as his phone buzzes.

_sorry._  his phone reads.

Tyler stares for a moment. 

_Sorry?_  he echoes. 

_yeah. i'm sorry._

_That's it?_

_do you want a televised speech with parades and dancing in the background?_

Tyler sighs.  

_No I just want you to specify_

_sorry you thought i was dating debby._

"Unbelievable," Tyler mutters. Jenna, whose head is resting on Tyler's shoulder so she can read the messages, nods in agreement. 

_Look_  Tyler types, _you might be fine with being a "bad boy" who doesnt care about school and skips classes and gets into fights but I'm not okay with being that myself._ _I'm not._ _Now stop being a coward and talk to me in person_

Almost immediately there's a rap on Tyler's window. Tyler and Jenna both jump.  

A pebble suddenly comes flying up and hits the window, and Tyler sighs. 

_Stop throwing rocks at my window. I'll open it in a sec_

Jenna giggles. "I think that's my cue to leave," she says, standing up. 

Once Jenna has left his room and closed his door, Tyler quickly opens the window to let Josh in. 

"I was an idiot," Josh says immediately.

"Yes, you were," Tyler agrees. 

"A complete idiot."

"Yes." 

"An absolute jerk."

"Indeed you were."

"An utter moron."

"Right on the nose." 

"A stupid, dumb-"

"Are you just gonna call yourself names or actually apologize?" Tyler interrupts. 

"Right, right, sorry," Josh says, shifting his weight awkwardly where he's standing in front of Tyler's window. "I didn't know how to- I mean- What I'm trying to say- Well, no, I mean-" He sighs. "I had a whole speech planned. 

Tyler smiles in spite of himself. 

"Give me the general gist of it then," he says. 

Josh takes a deep breath. 

"I'm sorry," he says, and he does look sorry. "I'm sorry that I framed you for painting the vice principal's car just so we could have detention together. I'm sorry I was too scared to properly ask you out, even after I found out that you liked me back. I'm sorry that you misinterpreted my relationship with Debby, and I'm sorry that I never clarified. I'm sorry-"

"It's okay," Tyler says softly. 

Josh pauses. "Really?"

"Yeah," Tyler says. "Really. I forgive you."

"Can I kiss you?" Josh blurts. "I- I mean, I've been wanting to for a while now, and-"

"Okay," Tyler says, patting his bed.

"Just like that?" Josh says, blinking.

"I've been wanting to kiss you for a while, too," Tyler says. "Which you might've guessed."

Josh laughs a little as he clambers onto Tyler's bed and kisses him. 

Tyler thinks it's a pretty nice first kiss, although he has basically nothing to compare it to. Josh's mouth tastes a lot better than Tyler had ever expected a mouth to taste, and it's very warm. 

Josh's hand is on Tyler's thigh. Tyler feels very... teenager-like, and he's glad their hips aren't touching. 

"Tyler, have you seen-"

Tyler's mom pauses at the doorway, staring at Josh and Tyler, who both stare back with wide eyes. 

"Um," Tyler says. 

His mom's eyes flicker from the open window, to the way Josh is on Tyler's bed, to the way his hand on Tyler's thigh. 

Tyler quickly pushes Josh's hand down. 

"Well," his mom says, taking a step back. For one wild second Tyler thinks she's gonna leave them, but she just pivots and yells "Chris! There's a boy here! Grab your shotgun!"

Josh jolts, looking alarmed, but Tyler grabs his hand before he can flee out the window. 

"She's joking," he whispers. 

Probably. 

"Tyler, who is this?" Tyler's mom asks, turning back to them. 

"This is, uh, Josh," Tyler says. "Mom, Josh. Josh, Mom," he says, gesturing back and forth.

"It's, um, nice to meet you, Mrs. Joseph," Josh says a little awkwardly, holding out a hand. 

His mom tries to keep her stern expression, but Tyler can tell she's impressed by the offer of the handshake. Josh, however, still looks like he's going to jump back out the window at any second. 

"All right, boys," she says. "I don't know how long this has been going on, but we're going have to lay down some rules." Tyler opens his mouth to tell her nothing's happened, but she shushes him. "Josh, you are allowed in Tyler's room." 

Tyler and Josh both blink in surprise. 

"But," she continues, "you have to leave the door open. And you have to use the front door, not the window. And Josh, you may not spend the night." 

"Well, I-" Tyler begins, but his mom isn't done yet. 

"And if you do have sex," Tyler's mom says, and Tyler and Josh both jerk back uncomfortably, "you have to use protection, okay? I know neither of you can get pregnant, but gay sex has to be safe sex too." 

Tyler buries his head in his hands. 

"Not that I'm promoting teenaged sex," his mom continues. "I'd like for you both to stay abstinent until you're older. Until marriage, if possible. But I know what teenagers get up to these days, and I want you to be safe, okay?"

"Okay," Tyler mumbles quickly. "Can we be alone now?" 

"With the door open," Tyler's mom says, standing up. "And it's a school night, so Josh has to leave before ten, okay?"

"Okay," Tyler says, making shooing motions with his hands. 

"All right, all right," his mom says, backing up towards the door. "Oh, and keep it PG in front of your siblings, okay?"

"Okay," Tyler says impatiently, and she turns around and runs right into her husband, who's standing at Tyler's doorway and holding a shotgun. 

"Honey, I was  _joking!"_  Tyler hears her hiss as she drags him away from Tyler's room. "Where did you even get that?"

**Author's Note:**

> A thank you to both odetosleep and onetoomanycats.
> 
>  
> 
> Now I can focus on my fic for Halloween.   
> And oh right school.


End file.
